With poor ratings and its chief quitting, what’s next for CNN?
CNN chief Jim Walton steps down at the end of the year after a decade at the helm. CREDIT: AP
CNN chief Jim Walton said Friday he is quitting, saying the company needs new leadership at a time its flagship U.S. network is suffering through some of its poorest ratings ever.
AJC business writer Kristi E. Swartz is following the story.
What’s your reaction to this latest setback for the Atlanta-based network? How can this network be saved?
(Keep it above the gutter, folks, and on-topic.)
Note: Commenting has been disabled on this post.
– For the AJC’s Radio & TV Talk blog
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
87 comments Add your comment
Allen
July 27th, 2012
2:43 pm
CNN remains the most trusted US network internationally having gained that trust by fairly reporting both sides of issues, unlike the highly xenophobic Fox News crowd. It would be nice if CNN could maintain their middle, trusting ground and leave the right to Fox and the left to MSNBC. Unfortunately, in today’s highly-charged political environment (has anyone noticed a Black man is President? hmmm.) too many people tune in to what they want to hear and choose either Fox or MSNBC. We need a CNN, but one with better personalities and better production . . . and a CNN that sticks with reporting vs. slanting the news. I hope CNN can regroup and come back stronger than ever. We need a strong middle voice. Note to the “Faux” crowd: not daily attacking a sitting President does not make CNN liberal — it makes them fair and honest.
Howard
July 27th, 2012
2:43 pm
Our Lord and Savior, I don’t think bashing homosexuals will add anything of value to this discussion. I don’t think the majority of people who have stopped watching cnn have done so because of their gay agenda. That said, we are all entitled to an opinion. Even Rosanne and Paris can be stupid in the media.
Woolman
July 27th, 2012
2:45 pm
1. Sell it to Ted
2.Go to real, unslanted news
3.Can Wolf and the other lefties
4.Can Piers morgan and bring back Larry King; Piers blows and is a Limey liberal to boot
JB
July 27th, 2012
2:45 pm
I went on an Alaskan cruise last summer and was “stuck” with only CNN for the week. Now, for just plain news, it was OK, but boy, the other was awful, what little I saw laying in bed at night. They are way to serious, wrapped to tight, bias and the humor is forced and bad. It was kinda like watching the news in the Soviet Union. Fox has out flanked them, and on Fox, I would say 40% of the air time for opinion is given to a liberal view…..and for the most part it’s upbeat with smart, good looking women. Thus the rankings.
Jon Sinton
July 27th, 2012
2:45 pm
CNN continues to flounder, and time is running out for the first cable news channel.
It was good to hear CNN Chairman Jim Walton decided to step aside. It’s precisely what CNN should needs, but they still lack the tools to succeed.
CNN’s informal daytime tone feels like local news. The anchors are too casual, and frankly, they don’t seem that well informed. News should drive daytime. Authority is the first casualty of informality, yet authority is the best card CNN has to play.
•I knew they were desperately in trouble last summer during the Senate Finance Committee hearings coverage. Kyra Phillips had a very light discussion with Ali Velshi who was in the hearing room before the session began. It was jocular and singularly uninformative. He made sport of the marquee witness, Fabrice Tourre, the Goldman trader, who gave himself the nickname, “Fabulous Fab,” and when she closed, Ms. Phillips took a similar tack, saying that Ali was the most fabulous guy in the room at the moment. It was too cute by half. Contrast that with Marketplace Morning (a Public Radio International show that some NPR affiliates run) which managed to work the guy’s nickname in as well, but they did so in the context of his early timing in deciphering the housing bubble, and how his relative youth and inexperience may have made him too brash for his own good. All told, Marketplace provided a landscape and CNN a vaudeville stage.
•One more: Renee Montagne interviewed an American general in Afghanistan on NPR’s Morning Edition. They were talking about the Marja offensive, comparing it to the Sunni Awakening in Iraq. What Ms. Montagne gave her audience was context, the great unifier that is missing in our media-fragmented society. It was a balanced conversation that imparted the gravity of the situation without the melodrama I often feel from CNN’s war coverage.
There is no full-time television equivalent of NPR’s news effort. The three broadcast networks have their half hour evening newscasts and a few magazine shows. PBS has its NewsHour, Frontline and the magazine show, “Need to Know,” but it does not do news in long-form. Fox News Channel and MSNBC are less about light than heat.
The conventional wisdom is that the evening audience only wants heat, and that CNN’s news approach is no match for the opinion-driven hosts whose outsized personalities mean ratings success for the competitors. There is reason to believe, however, that stories that don’t begin life as an ideological statement are good programming.
The competitive answer for CNN lies in better product and personalities with a concerted and consistent marketing message that hammers home tone and authority. NPR’s 27 million combined drive-time weekly cumulative audience* (the biggest on radio) says the news consumer is hungry for deep, thoughtful reporting, not opinion masquerading as news or happy talk. And, by freeing itself from the single-minded political coverage of the others, CNN could shine with a breadth of stories that capture the imagination as they inform. An authentic story told in a way that leaves us breathless is absolutely in television’s sweet spot.
The primetime question for CNN is does the audience demand the MSNBC/Fox polemics, or will it watch informative, entertaining and compelling investigations, reporting and commentary? The answer may hasten the oft-rumored marriage of CBS and CNN. While it is not what it used to be, CBS still has a better bench than CNN, and CNN has a bigger, better global newsgathering organization. A global net spread wide enough to catch great stories told by really talented correspondents could create a magazine-driven primetime alternative to the political donnybrook that occupies the other channels.
There is an argument to be made for the cult of personality in TV news and opinion. Viewers clearly love FNC’s Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, as well as MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell more than they love CNN’s Piers Morgan or Anderson Cooper. Maybe it’s as simple as CNN finding hosts whose appeal equals their competitors’, but I think it’s going to take a combination of appealing hosts, authoritative, authentic story telling, and wide array of subject matter to make the audience notice and care.
CNN has an opportunity to fulfill it promise, but time is running out.
*Source: ACT 1 based on Arbitron Nationwide, Fall 2008, Total US, Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday 6am- 12midnight.
© 2012 by Jon Sinton for Progressive Agenda, LLC
Howard
July 27th, 2012
2:46 pm
Allen, nice try on the spin there. CNN reports what it wants us to hear and see. Fox did not become as big as they are by bashing a black president. They were kicking cnn’s butt long before BA came along and screwed up the country thank you very much.
Net Radio Jock
July 27th, 2012
2:48 pm
CNN is in an awful mess. This is what happens when a network puts most of its hope in Piers Morgan. Horrible decision to let him replace Larry King. I would bring back Rick Sanchez and give Don Lemon & Fredricka Whitfield their own daily timeslots in the weekdays. They deserve it. Get rid of Piers quickly.
Howard
July 27th, 2012
2:51 pm
Why are poeple on here making it sound like msnbc is highly watched? Take out CNN and msnbc’s rating are a joke. In fact, add the two together and they do not beat FNC. Maybe they should merge. Madcow can do a show with Cooper. They might beat the farming channel or fishing with Uncle Luke on one of the local channels.
Howard
July 27th, 2012
2:53 pm
Woolman, Larry King? Are you serious? The guy is waaaaaay past his prime and was ready for pasture.
Bob
July 27th, 2012
2:53 pm
I disagree with everyone who has said CNN is losing ratings because it is too liberal. I agree with “Pirate”, and a few others. CNN for the most part provides objective news. The rest of you probably think Fox News is really “Fair and Balanced”. It’s more fun to watch Fox News or MSNBC and have their reporters confirm everything you already thought you knew. Me, I get most of my news from the internet. My main objection with CNN is with their website and how they sensationalize headlines just to get clicks on the story, and also how everything is now a video story that requires you to watch an advertisement.
You right wing wack jobs complaining about how liberal CNN is are forgetting that the country is split right down the middle between red states and blue states. CNN does not just broadcast to the Atlanta metro area. They’re not losing market share just because they don’t appeal much to red-staters.
Democrats are divided into two main groups, 1.) the hoi polloi that belong to a special interest (labor unions, minorities, etc.), and 2.) educated “elitists” who like to dig into the details on issues. The hoi polloi aren’t big news watchers to begin with, and the elitists aren’t satisfied with the depth of the reporting that CNN provides. Republicans belong to two main groups 1.) The corporate ruling class that has reaped the rewards from the financialization and globalization of our economy (e.g., Koch brothers), and 2.) the Nascar crowd that is concerned about gay marriage. The handful of the corporate elite aren’t watching CNN and Fox, either, but boy, does Fox News give the Nascar crowd just what it wants. Angy white people just looking for someone to blame for their 1950’s America being gone. But who is more responsible for destroying the American dream, the corporate ruling elite, or Perez Hilton?
I’m sure you also want lower taxes, but also want to keep your Social Security and Medicare benefits. Keep your gub’mint hands off my Medicare!
JB
July 27th, 2012
2:54 pm
You watch O’reilly give someone some tough questions…..and then you see him yuk it up with Dennis Miller poking fun at dumb politicians………It’s great TV.
Howard
July 27th, 2012
2:54 pm
Bob, that was 4 paragraphs of liberal gibersih. CNN is as left as msnbc and wrote the media book on how to distort the news to your agenda. Nice try Bob.
JB
July 27th, 2012
2:55 pm
Bring back Bernard Shaw. He still around. I’m a conservative but I liked ole Bernie.
Jay Dubu
July 27th, 2012
3:00 pm
The issue with CNN, as with other news outlets, is that they’ve become entertainment news. There are very few to no investigative reporters anymore. Everyone is focused on Facebook and Twitter posting to see what to talk about during their news cast.
Instead of providing hard core political news, and details on congressional voting, and details on bills that are being voted on, everything is sensationalized to get the quick instant buzz.
Fluff stirs up the social media, so they can get instant feedback on how many viewers are watching, or listening to them…so that can run to the advertisers to bill more for commercials.
I watched the morning CNN news earlier this week, and there was a commercial break every 6 – 7 minutes. They would do 6 -7 minutes of news TV, and 3 minutes of commercials.
Head in the Sand
July 27th, 2012
3:07 pm
Howard, how exactly has Obama “screwed up our country”? It’s this blind demagoguery that hurts our country more than anything. If you have the ability to think objectively, imagine if McCain were president. Do you objectively think the economy would be any different than it is now in any real significant way? If so, what do you think McCain would’ve done to accomplish this? More likely, we would be worse off, due to having ground troops in Libya right now (increasing our empire by adding another permanent army base), and possibly wading into another war with Iran and Syria, in addition to probably having more troops added to Afghanistan. The president can only do so much, especially with a fractured congress.
twjm
July 27th, 2012
3:07 pm
CNN is a joke. There’s no journalism anymore just pretty faces reading AP Copy. I don’t want opinions and blow hards – I want more intelligence. If you’re ever abroad and you watch CNN International it’s an amazing difference compared to CNN Domestic. So much more high brow and academic in its feel and delivery. CNN Domestic should take notes.
As soon as they gave Rick Sanchez his own block – you knew the wheels had come off for good.
CNN still sets the bar
July 27th, 2012
3:12 pm
Fox noise is obnoxiously right wing and meets no definition of journalism. I feel sorry for the brainwashed right who decided that education, science, and tolerence were somehow whats wrong with America. Thanks Fox!
Jay Dubu
July 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
It maybe great TV, but that doesn’t mean it’s news.
Tired of the phony act of Bill “let me talk because you’re a pinhead” O’Reilly. Just report the facts, and allow people to form their own opinions. Now the talking heads have to tell people what to think, and then present selective Twitter feedback. Is that feedback from real viewers, or is some of the writers on their staff making up those tweets?
John
July 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
CNN unfortunately has trouble keeping viewers because it is the one news network that gives you news and does not slant things left (MSNBC) or right (Fox). Soledad O’Brien’s show is the best morning show by far and Anderson Cooper is great at night. Nobody comes close to CNN’s election coverage. CNN needs to keep its focus on hard news and lleave the fluff and opinion shows to others.
Fedup
July 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
CNN is going to need more of a shake up than just Jim Walton leaving. Their management is filled with one job (CNN) lifers that know no other way to do things than the CNN way. This starts with going through their EVP’s and SVP’s and work their way throughout the organization. Their programming is totally horrible and if they are hanging their hats on Anderson Cooper, good luck! Although neither MSNBC nor FoxNews is fair and balanced, they do compliment each other in their approach. And……..if The Weather Channel doesn’t watch out, they are also becoming a meaningless television network because they have no clue what they are putting on air either. (Two Atlanta based companies)
Tired of opinions
July 27th, 2012
3:16 pm
I wish there was a news outlet that stuck to the facts and did not try to put a conservative or liberal spin on them. I think this is the main reason that they are all suffering. Stick to the facts, and quit trying to be a “form of entertainment”. People will appreciate it.
Fedup
July 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
Fox has Bill and MSNBC has Rachel. Both the biggest blow hards around.
Curzen
July 27th, 2012
3:17 pm
“Maybe if they shared balanced opinions/views the majority would watch it”
Only the feeble minded require a news program to provide an opinion for them instead of forming one on their own. All those networks are ideological echo chambers centered on entertainment these days. You’ll lose nothing of value by not patronizing any of their media offerings.
Jay Dubu
July 27th, 2012
3:18 pm
Believe it or not, our nationally elected officials do not have to sit in the Presidential Chair in order to have a positive effect on our country. They can get their ideas raised from the floor…that is what they promised when they were trying to get our votes!
So stop with this “The President caused …”. They all played a role in it!
Don G
July 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
I am certainly interested in hearing “breaking news”, but not over and over and over again. Give me break. And a pretty face does not equate to good reporting. CNN should stick with serious reporting, and let others do the cute stuff.
Liberal vs conservative reporting is not the issue. Both CNN and Fox are preaching to the choir. That’s why I watch CNN. Fox gets nauseating in its commentary.
Blog Administrator
July 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
Howard and Head in the Sand:
This isn’t a posting about politics, so stop chasing that dog.
Keep it on topic, as demonstrated in a lot of the thoughtful comments here.
Tony
July 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
HOW FOX BECAME #1:….WELL ITS THE ONLY PLACE FOR ALL THE WACK JOBS TO CONTINUE TO GET THEIR “MISINFORMATION” AND “LACK OF INFORMATION”….SO THEN THAT LEAVES MSNBC (NOW NBCNEWS) AND CNN TO BATTLE FOR THE LEFT AND MIDDLE GROUPS….
CNN IS LAGGING BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT INNOVATIVE….THEY ARE TRADITIONAL AND MSNBC (NOW NBCNEWS) IS QUICKLY TAKING THEIR VIEWERS. CNN DOES NEED NEW LEADERSHIP TO BRING A CHANGE. THEY ARE TRADITIONAL IN TRYING TO GIVE THE SAME MESSAGE TO ALL GROUPS….BE LIKE FOX AND FOCUS ON YOUR WACK-JOB SEGMENT OF VIEWERS AND RATINGS WILL GO BACK UP…
AGAIN, FOX IS #1 BECAUSE 100% OF THE WACK-JOBS GO TO THAT ONE SPOT THAT SUPPORTS THEIR NARROW, CRAZY @$$, SOMETIMES RACIST AND EXCLUSIONARY VIEWS!!!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Get with the program
July 27th, 2012
3:28 pm
Hmmm lets see. A liberal leaning station headquartered in a red state……move to the right and make it bright. Outside of Atlanta, liberals are like rats and roaches….u never see em and they only come out at night.
Tony
July 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
SOOOOOO….I GUESS WHAT IM SAYING CNN, IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO BE A NEWS NETWORK…KEEP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING…IF YOU WANT TO GET VIEWERS, DO LIKE FOX (RIGHT WACK JOBS)…AND MSNBC (LEFT WACK JOBS) AND PREACH A CRAZY MESSAGE…AND WATCH THE ZOMBIES COME OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FOR REAL THIS TIME….HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND….HEHEHE I KNOW ALL THESE CRAZY GEORGIA BACKWOODS COUNTRY GUN TOATIN CRAZY PEOPLE MAD AT ME RIGHT NOW FOR TALKING BAD ABOUT THEIR BIBLE (FOX NEWS)
Jeff
July 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
The best news show on TV anymore is the Daily Show. And I’m not laughing when I say that.
Reality Check
July 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
CNN is passive agressive liberal. No, they are not as blatant as MSNBC (which is about as big a joke as there is on TV), but the liberal slant and leaning is still there. Sure, some of the folks at Fox News are conservative – but they don’t hide it or act as though they are middle of the road. And Fox does have the nads to have both sides presented. If CNN mistakenly has a conservative on, it’s 1 person against 3 or 4 and often that one is not truly a conservative.
eddy
July 27th, 2012
3:48 pm
Once upon a time in ages gone past, CNN was something! Now it and MSNBC try to out-lib each other and rarely if ever report anything that would cause angst within the ranks…largely ignore it as if it didn’t happen. The on-air people are so caught-up in “how liberal, gay, progressive, Democrat” can I be…Soledad wouldn’t have a job if she weren’t a minority and she’ll let you know she is protected. Slowly but surely CNN is slip, sliding away to oblivion because they, the collective they, cannot recognize what is news versus what can we do to the news story to make it have a good liberal outcome or a bad conservative one. Or perhaps we’ll just ignore the story ’cause it casts a Democrat or liberal in a bad light. Just facts people. Just facts..not your flaming opinion…facts
Pirate
July 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
I didn’t see a fact in that whole post. General observations? Yes. Facts? No.
C-Rock
July 27th, 2012
4:54 pm
I was always proud that CNN was Atlanta based, then coporate was moved to New York. Other than their election day coverage I do not watch CNN anymore, because of the slant they put on issues in the news. Lou Dobbs got in hot water when he brought up jobs and immigration issues in the same sentence. He was doing this when Bush II was in charge. Fox news is in first place, because you can hear both sides of the story. Hannity, O’Rielly are entertaining because they let themselves be beaten in debate on live TV. You won’t see that on CNN or MSNBC, because they won’t offer up another side to have debate about. Many times on O’Rielly his quest get their point of view across better than he, and I think that sometimes he plays the “devils advocate” just to juice up the show. That is entertainment. As far as news, the early evening shows always have multiple voices to be heard that reflect left, right, and centrist views. You won’t get that on the other channels, and I think that is why viewers tune in, to get those opposing views. Apparently a lot of liberals watch Fox also because they have definite opinions about the network. By the way, I do not own a corporation, and neither am I a nascar fan. So I quess I am just an enigma, but I like to call myself part of the “silent majority” who think for themselves, instead of having injections of left or right pumped into my brain like we are braindead, and can not rationalize and know what is good or bad, or right or wrong. I don’t need a preacher in a pulpit to tell me how to vote, or a tv commentator to explain to me why the mideast is in turmoil. Just the facts please!!
Joe J
July 27th, 2012
5:03 pm
Call Ted
Sean John
July 27th, 2012
5:42 pm
Pirate, you do not speak for everyone. I watch FNC because I get both sides even on shows like Hannity.
——————–
I feel sorry for you if you think Hannity gives both sides.
I am…..........Morley Moe!™
July 27th, 2012
5:52 pm
Want to increase ratings? THREE STOOGES 24/7. Shemp Saturday Nights. Now there’s a real winner for the network formerly known as CNN.